Love+Reflection

That fateful day that ended with me in a hospital bed, hooked up to various machines, awaiting the answers as to why I had been feeling so ill and so sad, so weak and so stressed for so many months. My diagnosis was Graves Disease, or autoimmune hyperthyroid; the same condition my Mom developed at the same age, and her grandmother developed also. Finally, I had some answers.

The autoimmune community has recently lost a very dear friend and leader. Today, with very heavy hearts, the AIP blogging community is coming together to share the painful loss of one of our own, Martine Partridge of Eat Heal Thrive, and to celebrate the enormous impact of her life on each of us. Martine shared wonderfully witty posts and delicious recipes, all focused on health, happiness, and healing from a very real-life viewpoint. Her obituary can be found here. Read more

Today I’m going to do something a little bit different and share a lovely post from health blogger Sara of Ms. Health Esteem! Despite having Graves Disease, she is a super amazing lady with an infallible zest for life that is incredibly contagious. She has a knack for saying just what you need before you even realize you need it and this post is certainly indicative of that.

This is my first Thanksgiving away from all family and friends, so my Hubby and I are recreating feasting favourites on a smaller scale. It’s also Hubby’s Birthday on the 12th, so a candle in his very own pumpkin pie is in order. Read more

Since leaving one semester behind and entering a new one, I have again felt the weight of a busy life all too heavy on my shoulders. I have a tendency to go along, thinking I am handling all the fuss very well, and though I notice myself becoming increasingly tired, I cannot seem to convince myself that I can change my load or fate. I end up more and more stressed and anxious until my poor little human body cannot hold any more. Everything must therefore burst forth with a dramatic vengeance and I become a helpless mess for a few weeks, crying for no reason, needing more sleep than anything else (though rarely getting it), fighting with Hubby for very unreasonable things, and so on. I somehow manage not to be a crazy person when I am in public, but even managing that feat can manifest a stress-knot of hormone imbalances, increased heart-rate and breathing difficulties. Do you ever get so upset about something that your actual brain feels uncomfortable somehow? Read more

I am coming up on the three year anniversary of my Graves’ diagnosis. The date that my life changed forever.

My body was screaming at me, trying to tell me that something was seriously wrong, but it took me almost two months of coming home from work with my ankles looking like this (as well as a myriad of other symptoms) before I finally sought out some professional help. Read more

This Sunday (June 21st, 2015), I will be celebrating the Summer Solstice. The northern-most sun of the year. I have never celebrated this event really, but have always been keenly conscious of this day. For me, it signals beautiful, happy summer days ahead, but also the too-quick decline back into the dreaded dark of winter. As the Solstice marks the turning of the year, “thus even in summer’s beginning, we find the seeds of summer’s end”. ~Deborah Byrd~ Read more

I have been struggling with an eczema flare these last two weeks. This time, it’s on my face and armpits, I am not sleeping well, my stress levels are going up, and my despair is increasing because I don’t know how to “fix it”.

Starting school has been wonderful, but apparently it is kicking my butt. Perhaps I hadn’t recovered from our cross-country move. Perhaps it’s all money-related. Perhaps I ate too much of something. Perhaps, perhaps… Read more

Today, lying in bed with a sore throat and a sinus cold, catching up on blogs and articles about autoimmunity, I read a post by Sarah Wilson of “I Quit Sugar” fame. This led me to Meghan O’Rourke’s essay “What Is Wrong With Me?”, which hit a very strong chord.

After struggling for years with undiagnosed autoimmune Hashimoto’s, and then continued struggles with it’s symptoms (and the symptoms of who knows what else), O’Rourke describes the inexplicable sensations of autoimmune disease. She manages to put into words the shear helplessness one feels, the “all in your head” looks in other people’s eyes, and the so bizarre and disconcerting feeling of being an imposter in one’s own body. Read more

Hello!

Welcome to Living Lovely Autoimmune! I'm Em, a Holistic Nutritionist in training currently based in Victoria, B.C. Healing chronic illness takes many therapies, and I am passionate about starting with food! If you're looking for help on your healing journey, check out my articles and recipes for inspiration.